The United Kingdom has pledged to invest over US$385 million in Myanmar in two years time, according to statistics of the Directorate of Investment and Company Registration.
The UK invested... [ More ]

Myanmar has the highest relative growth in Southeast Asia, according to the latest tourism statistics from United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).
Statistics from the UNWTO shows that Southeast Asia showed the highest growth among Asian subregions, with nine per cent more arrivals in 2012.
"In absolute terms, growth was led by Thailand with a 16% increase in tourists over 2011. Cambodia (+24%) and Vietnam (+14%) also posted strong double-digit growth last year. Myanmar saw the...

On July 15, 2013, Myanmar acceded to the New York Convention on the Recognition of Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the “New York Convention”). The next step is for Myanmar’s parliament to implement domestic legislation setting out the necessary framework for the Myanmar courts to give effect to dispute resolution mechanisms contractually agreed between parties and for the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Myanmar.
Pending such implementation, the current arbitration...

BRUSSELS, July 18 (UPI) -- Opening up trade relations with Myanmar will "make a huge difference" in the country's economic development, an EU trade official said Thursday.
The European Union said Myanmar will gain duty-free and quota-free access to the European market under the terms of its so-called Everything But Arms trade regime starting Friday.
"This has the potential to make a huge difference to the country's economic development and to bring real benefits to the people there,"...

As an increasing number of international firms vie for Myanmar’s offshore and onshore oil and gas reserves the government is facing mounting calls to fine-tune its regulatory framework for foreign investment in the sector and ensure that environmental safeguards are implemented.
U Thein Aung, a senior lawyer at Myanmar Trademark and Patent Law Firm, which provides legal advice to foreign firms, said the government is moving toward greater legal and regulatory clarity. “New laws related to...

Japan and Myanmar will cooperate to build cultural links and support the growth of tourism between the two countries.
According to local news report, Culture Minister U Aye Myint Kyu said cultural heritage plays an important role in promoting tourism between the two countries.
“Currently, only 10,000 Japanese travellers visit Myanmar, but it could grow to as many as a million in the future,” he said.
Myanmar and Japan are cooperating in culture, with Japanese culture shows visiting the...

Myanmar, formerly one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia but now termed the region’s “next economic frontier” by the International Monetary Fund, is also the newest battleground for Indian companies seeking to wrest business away from Chinese firms, which remain the biggest investor in Myanmar, even as western companies rush to the country.
Export-Import Bank of India (Exim), the state-controlled trade financing institution, has agreed to invest $800 million in Myanmar, part of which...

Thailand invested $410 million in Myanmar in the first half of 2013, leading in Myanmar's foreign investor line-up during the six-month period, the local Voice Daily reported Wednesday.
Thailand stood as the second largest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian member nation with nearly 10 billion dollars as of March 2013 after China, which brought in nearly 15 billion dollars, the report said quoting the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.
During the period, Vietnam...

Myanmar President U Thein Sein said on Thursday that his country will be taking a leadership role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014 in gaining the momentum of ASEAN achievements, fulfilling the 2015 ASEAN Community targets and laying down the ASEAN Vision beyond 2015.
In his message on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN, U Thein Sein noted that political, economic and social reforms in Myanmar have given the country more opportunities in...

YANGON: Myanmar has introduced interbank currency trading, a senior central bank official said, the latest reform to the financial sector, which follows the managed float of the kyat currency from April 2012.
Foreign banks are not allowed to operate in Myanmar and the local banking system is rudimentary, so the interbank market is likely to be tiny initially.
“We have allowed local private banks to trade in foreign currency among themselves effective Monday, taking a major step forward in...

Negotiations have finally begun to select foreign investors to explore for oil and gas in the seas off Burma’s coast, but it could be another eight months before any licenses are awarded.
The Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and the Energy Planning Department (EPD) will hold talks with 61 companies that have been “shortlisted” as suitable candidates to bid.
The bidders include major international oil firms such as Shell, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Total and Statoil of Norway.
The...